Moving my 401k to use for Real Estate Investing?

[Ernesto Barragan JR]

I have about 120k in my 401k and 100k in equity  at the moment and would like to use it towards real estate investments. I've been researching different services to move my 401k money , such as Whole life Insurance or a self directed ira. How would you go about moving 401k money over and into what and whats your opinions on the concept of using whole life insurance as infinte banking? 

Thank you!

[John Perrings]

Quote from @Dmitriy Fomichenko:

@Ernesto Barragan JR

Be very careful with the whole life insurance. Don't simply rely on the illustration by the insurance agent. They typically make commissions equivalent to one year of your premium payments and have a vested interest selling the policy to you, they do not have your interest at heart. If you know how to invest your money - whole life insurance is a rip off (it might work for those who have no idea how to invest or are unwilling to learn, so the forced saving component of the whole life insurance would provide them with so me benefits at the very high cost). 

Is the 401k with the current or past employer? If past - you are free to move that to a self-directed IRA. If current - you may not be able to access those funds at this time, contact your plan administrator and ask about "in-service distribution". 

You won't be able to combine your IRA investments with your personal investments (regardless if you are using equity in your home or savings). You need to have two separate plans: investing your retirement dollars and separately from that making personal investments.

It's not an either/or discussion. Life insurance is just another asset class. That means it's not an investment and shouldn't be compared to an investment. Having both investments and insurance is completely reasonable as part of an overall strategy.

Just like having investments and real estate is completely reasonable.

Having both investments and insurance will generally create better distribution outcomes in the future than either one can do by themselves.